- Question on Language and Dialect Distinctions:The video suggests that the differences between a language, dialect, and accent are often more political than linguistic. Can you think of an example where political factors have influenced the classification of a language or dialect? How might this classification impact the speakers of that language or dialect?
- Question on Linguistic Evolution and Colonialism:The video mentions that colonialism has been one of the biggest drivers of linguistic change, leading to the creation of Creole languages and the extinction of many indigenous languages. How does the impact of colonialism on language reflect broader socio-political dynamics? What are the implications for cultural identity and heritage in post-colonial societies?
- Question on Chomsky's Hypothesis:The video discusses Noam Chomsky's hypothesis that all languages are based on a universal grammatical structure and that humans are biologically equipped to use this structure. How does this hypothesis align or conflict with the evidence from linguistic diversity and language acquisition? What are the potential strengths and limitations of Chomsky's theory in explaining how we learn and use language?
The video resumes in an impressively good way what there is to say about languages and dialects.
Already Max Weinreich, a linguist and Yiddish scholar, said that the distinction is political matter: a shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey flot ('A language is a dialect with an army and a navy').
An example of this is the Swedish dialect, Elvdalian, that could be seen as a language without an army and a navy as there is no mutual intelligibility between Swedish and Elvdalian.
The lack of mutual intelligibility is however often not a sufficient or necessary condition for deciding what is a language or a dialect. Swedish and Norwegian are mutually intelligible but are two languages with many dialects each at different levels of specificity.
As for Chomsky, whose hypothesis of a universal grammar is at best undecidable, does not, in my view, have anything to say about the distinction of languages and dialects.
Hans Kronning Thank you a lot for your insights, I didn't know about Elvdalian and while I knew that Swedish and Norwegians were close, I didn't know they are mutually intelligible
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